I noticed this as I was cleaning my today. The scuffs on the top of the hood and lugs have been there for a while, but the wear to the front of the lugs is new. In particular, wear can be seen on the front edge of the hood.
Scuffs:
The lip starting to peel back:
Another shot:
And another:
Wear on the inside of the slide:
Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill, or is this normal?
The scuffs are pretty normal, but that peened up metal on the foraward edge is not a good sign.
It may just need to be dressed down, and it may be good to go from there... hard to say, Tuner has a better cyber bench than I do. But it does need to be looked at.
How many rounds and what type of ammo has this Colt seen?
I've put probably close to 1000 rounds through it. A mix of winchester white box and factory reloaded ammo ranging from 230 grain fmj to 200 grain SWC soft loads. I bought it used in what was mint condition; it looked like it had never been shot.
The "Front edge of the hood" is the first lug wall.
From here it looks like a linkdown timing problem, or lack of clearance with the slide when the barrel is in bed. Also possible that there's so much slack in the link, that it lets the barrel bounce back up into the slide's path.
How are the other lugs? Any flanging or setback at the top/front? Stairstepped appearance?
How about the rear faces of the slide lugs? The one picture is too dark to see what the first lug wall looks like.
There is the slightest hint of the same kind of wear on the middle and forward most lugs. However, it's not enough to capture with a picture. I can't detect anything on the rear faces of the lugs.
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There is the slightest hint of the same kind of wear on the middle and
forward most lugs
Sounds like a barrel timing problem. Go to the Tech section and find Sheumann's Barrel Timing text and see if yours appears to be wrong. You can do a rough field test by checking the clearance with a dowel rod in the barrel to lever up on the chamber end of the barrel to get the slack out of the link. Removing the whole recoil system will make it a lot easier.
What if I don't have the kit described in the text?
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What if I don't have the kit described in the text?
You don't need it to do a quick-test. Use the dowel rod that I described above to lever up on the chamber end of the barrel. All the kit does is get the slack out of the link. It may be easier to get someone to help, and lever the barrel up while you get the slide a quarter-inch out of battery and check the clearance.
I'm sorry Tuner, I don't have anything to measure clearance. To be honest with you, my gunsmithing abilities begin and end with taking the thing apart to clean and lube. I did get the dowel and lever the chamber end of the barrel, but after that it wasn't clear to me what to do. If there is a problem (which there appears to be) I'm not equipped to fix it anyway.
Does this warrant sending it into Colt? How would I describe this issue to Colt customer service over the phone?
You could create a shim out of thin cardboard or paper to measure the clearance.
If you could find a way to send the pics to Colt, that'd be best. I haven't dealt with their customer service, so I can't help there. Good luck!
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Does this warrant sending it into Colt?
Yes.
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How would I describe this issue to Colt customer service over the
phone?
Lugs battered due to incorrect barrel linkdown timing.
Well, got the gun back today. They replaced both the slide and the barrel. Apparently something was out of whack. They did a great job and went ahead and installed my YoBo retro rear and lightened the trigger at no cost. The turn around was about 5 weeks. The gun does lock up tighter now than before, so that's a plus. We'll see how it shoots when I get a chance to get out of the house. Customer service was excellent, if a little short on communication, but with what they did and how quickly it was done I really can't complain.
I am glad Colt took care of you. When problems arise and are handled correctly it takes most of the sting out of it.